HOW IS ABEL FERRARA STILL ALIVE?

I feel like a jerk for bailing on the NATURAL CAUSES production this evening, but I felt a mandatory compulsion to attend tonight's QUIET CITY celebration. And what an electrifying night it was. To be honest, I was worried that the buzz would pale in comparison to HANNAH TAKES THE STAIRS last week, but that didn't happen. The film sold out an hour in advance, and the party was filled with almost all of the same familiar faces as last week's. The best part of all of it is that I loved the film even more this time around (and my part seemed to get genuine laughs!). I don't want to jinx things, but I have a strange hunch that QUIET CITY is going to play very, very well this weekend--and beyond. You heard it here first.

Not long after leaving the party, I was in a nearby deli withdrawing money, having made the outlandish decision to take a cab back to Brooklyn. While I was waiting for my money to arrive, I kept getting distracted by some random wino who was talking out loud and deciding what alcohol to purchase. At one point, my look-a-like game turned into a sound-a-like game, and my first reaction was to say Abel Ferrara (I have his doped up appearance on Conan O'Brien many years ago just about memorized). So, I got my money, and walked out to the street to hail a cab, when, lo and behold, out walked Abel Ferrara, stomping into the street to hail a cab heading in the other direction. I never usually do this, but tonight I said fuggit. I yelled, "Abel!" He turned around, brown bag in hand (it looked like a bottle of Mad Dog) and slurred, "Come walk with me," as he backed into the street and found his escape from that particular block. It could have been the same fucking high as when he was on Conan, and when I saw that episode all the way back then I was convinced he was on the cusp of death. Now it's like ten years later and he's still going at it. Seriously, how is Abel Ferrara still alive???

The past two Wednesdays at the IFC Center have been glorious. But next Wednesday is going to be INSANELYLEGENDARILYIMMEASURABLYIMPOSSIBLYINCREDIBLY BRILLIANT-BRILLIANT-BRILLIANT!!!!!, as New York audiences get a rare--perhaps only--screening of Ronald Bronstein's FROWNLAND. It has become my personal mission to make sure this screening sells out. Why? Because it is a work of absolute genius. Don't let what happened tonight happen to you. Buy your tickets online and in advance for FROWNLAND. It is sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo fucking good!